Stand-up tape spool



June 2, 1964 P. J. RICH STAND-UP TAPE SPOOL Filed Nov. 20, 1961 MYBMTOK/ pm'u 6. u 67 w W d United States Patent 3,135,380 STAND-UP TAPE SPOOL Philip 3. Rich, Roscoe, 111., assignor to J. L. Clark Manu- This invention relates to a sheet metal spool carrying a roll of adhesive or other tape and having a portion of.

its periphery flattened and projecting outwardly to provide a foot or tab engageable with a supporting surface to hold the spool in an upright position and against rolling. The invention has more particular reference to tape spools which are releasably telescoped with an enclosing sleeve when not in actual use.

The primary object is to provide on a spool of the above character a foot of novel construction which not only holds the spools itself against rolling along a supporting surface but also acts in a similar manner when the spool is telescoped in its enclosing sleeve.

Another object is to form the foot on one of the spool heads and out of metal which would otherwise be scrapped.

A further object is to offset the foot from the plane of the spoolhead so as to locate the flattened end adjacent and substantially tangent to the end of the enclosing sleeve.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an adhesive tape spool and sleeve assembly embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of a sheet of metal illustrating the manner of blanking out one of the spool ends.

The present invention is especially applicable to standard types of sheet metal spools for carrying a roll of adhesive tape helically wound around a core 11 between two heads 12 and 13 which are fixed at 14 to opposite I ends of the core and usually formed around their peripheries with beads 15 and 16 of generally circularly crosssection. The spool is usually sized to extend loosely through an outwardly curled head 17 on the end of a sleeve 18 into which the spool is adapted to be inserted and come against an inwardly curled bead 19, the beads 16 and 1'7 then being disposed substantially in a common plane (FIG. 2). The spool beads and the sleeve are usually formed from thin sheet metal suitably decorated for purposes of display.

In accordance with the present invention, a foot 20 isv formed on the head 13 of the spool and offset outwardly from the plane thereof so as to project outwardly past the end of the sleeve and provide points 21 angularly spaced around the spool and adapted for engagement with a supporting surface 22 and thereby hold either the spool alone or the assembly thereof in the sleeve against rolling along the surface. Preferably the foot is formed out of the same'piece of sheet metal as the head 13 and comprises a generally parallel sided segment or tab offset outwardly from the plane of the head far enough to project past the circular bead 17 on the 'end of the sleeve into which the spool is inserted when not in use. To oifset the foot and dispose the same parallel to the head 13, the metal is bent as indicated at 24 along a chord of the spool head. Preferably, the sides and ends of the foot are formed with beads 25 and 26 which merge with each other at the corners of the foot and with the head 16 on the spool head 13 at opposite ends of the bend 24. Herein, the

head 26 forming the end of the foot is substantially straight and extends well beyond the intersection with the sleeve bead 17 thus spacing the points 21 far enough apart Patented June 2, 1964 to hold the spool or spool and sleeve assembly against rolling along the surface. At the same time, the bead 26 is disposed at substantially the same radius as the bead 1'7, and thus lies alongside and substantially tangent to the sleeve bead 17. As a result, the widely spaced corners 21 of the foot cooperate with a point 28 on the sleeve bead 19 to provide a three-point support for holding the assembly substantially with minimum backward tilting of the end face of the assembly when the latter is stood on edge on the surface 22. The advertising matter usually printed on the exposed faces of the spool heads is thus located in upright position and displayed to best advantage.

The beads 16, 25 and 26 defining the periphery of V the spool head 13 may be formed in a conventional curling die after cutting a blank 29 (FIG. 3) of the desired shape and oifsetting the foot portion thereof by forming the bend 24. If desired, the curling die may be combined with blanking and bending dies so that the entire head may be completed in the same die set-up following punching of the blanks 29 from a sheet 30 of metal.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a substantial part of the metal 31 needed to form the foot 20 comes from parts of the sheet 30 which is scrapped as an incident to forming the circular blanks in producing conventional circular spool heads. Thus, the improved stand-up spool construction may be produced at a cost only slightly greater than standard constructions. At the same time, the foot 211 constructed and arranged as above described serves either the spool alone or the assembly with the sleeve and maintains the desired upright position when the spool or the assembly is stood on edge on a supporting surface.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of, a generally cylindrical sleeve having a circular head around one end, a spool substantially as long as said sleeve and adapted for endwise insertion therein through said head whereby to leave one head of the spool exposed and disposed substantially in the plane of said bead, a radially projecting tab integral with said spool head and offset axially and outwardly therefrom so as tolie adjacent said head, the inner end of said tab extending along a chord of said spool head and the outer end being disposed substantially tangent to the head of said sleeve and cooperating with a point on the opposite end of the sleeve to provide a three-point support for holding the sleeve and spool assembly in upright position when resting on a horizontal surface.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of, a generally cylindrical sleeve, a spool of approximately the same length as said sleeve and sized to telescope endwise into the sleeve to dispose the heads of the spool adjacent the ends of the sleeve, and a tab integral with one of said heads and projecting radially outwardly past the adjacent end of said sleeve, the outer end ofsaid tab being substantially tangent to said sleeve end and cooperating with a point on the opposite end of the sleeve providing a three-point support for holding the sleeve and spool assembly in upright position when resting on a horizontal surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,700 Mersereau May 1, 1900 2,137,745 White Nov. 22, 1938 2,463,445 Van Cleef Mar. 1, 1949 2,710,152 Jones June 7, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 594,934 Germany Mar. 23, 1934 962,759 France Dec. 12, 1949 1,005,831 France Jan. 2, 1952 

1. IN A DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, THE COMBINATION OF, A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE HAVING A CIRCULAR BEAD AROUND ONE END, A SPOOL SUBSTANTIALLY AS LONG AS SAID SLEEVE AND ADAPTED FOR ENDWISE INSERTION THEREIN THROUGH SAID BEAD WHEREBY TO LEAVE ONE HEAD OF THE SPOOL EXPOSED AND DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE PLANE OF SAID BEAD, A RADIALLY PROJECTING TAB INTEGRAL WITH SAID SPOOL HEAD AND OFFSET AXIALLY AND OUTWARDLY THEREFROM SO AS TO LIE ADJACENT SAID BEAD, THE INNER END OF SAID TAB EXTENDING ALONG A CHORD OF SAID SPOOL HEAD AND THE OUTER END BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENT TO THE BEAD OF SAID SLEEVE AND COOPERATING WITH A POINT ON THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SLEEVE TO PROVIDE A THREE-POINT SUPPORT FOR HOLDING THE SLEEVE AND SPOOL ASSEMBLY IN UPRIGHT POSITION WHEN RESTING ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE. 